Monday, 18 April 2011

Why Are Questions Not Being Asked….

…about why this chap was employed with this company in the first place?

A council contractor has been jailed following a crash which left a teenager with life-long injuries.

Read on…

Geoffrey Lee, 29, was driving a van near Tesco Extra, in Hazelmere, Pitsea, when the door swung out and hit Siam McEwan.

The 17-year-old was left with a fractured skull, broken shoulder, and is now deaf in one ear following the crash last June.

It later emerged Lee had been working for grass-cutting company English Landscapes, on behalf of Basildon Council, but failed to tell them he had no licence and insurance. He had also taken the van despite expressly being told not to use it.

Bang to rights, you might think. Especially since he didn’t only hit the girl:

Southend Crown Court heard Lee first crashed it into a Saab, lifting the vehicle eight inches into the air, before driving away with the back doors of the van flapping open.

It was then that one of the doors struck Siam who was with her boyfriend, Michael Hoskyn.

He pled guilty. Well, why make them work for it?

Lee, of Stanfield Road, Southend, admitted aggravated vehicle taking, driving without due care and attention, driving with no licence, and driving with no insurance.

And the lazy CPS decided that was enough, and why bother to do their job over the other charges he faced:

Charges of failing to stop and driving without due care and attention were dropped after Lee pleaded not guilty to both.

First time offence? I mean, how could he have got a job involving driving if it wasn’t, right?

But noooo:

The court heard he had previous convictions for failing to stop, driving without a licence, and driving without insurance.

Are these things you don’t have to disclose to prospective employers? Do they not have a duty to check that you have a valid license? Or was his failure to show that the reason he was barred from taking the van?

Lee, who is the father of a 13-month-old son, was jailed for ten months and banned from driving for two years.

No order was made for costs or compensation because of the prison sentence.

That’s it? That’s all?

A pre-sentence probation service report said Lee saw the offences as a series of unfortunate accidents beyond his control.

not surprised. I worked for a company a few years ago who employed a non license holder for a driving job. He got the sack for not turning up for work, not for failing to show his non existant license. The companies attitude was that, as the driver everything was your responsibility and they carried no liabilty. One job I went on had access to the site over a bridge with a 7T GVW limit. The mobile plant I was driving weighed 17t, and the alternative access had a height restricted bridge. I rang the office and told them this, only to be told by the company owner that failure to complete the job would result in my sacking. Easily done as we were all on temporary contracts.

The idiot in your story needs shooting, but he would not have been able to drive the vehicle if the company had not turned a blind eye to his lack of a license.